The server market is at a potential inflection point, with a new breed of ARM-based microserver vendors challenging the status quo, particularly for cloud computing. We survey 20 modern processors to understand the options for alternative architectures. To achieve disruptive performance, microserver vendors must deeply specialize in particular workloads. However, there is a trade-off between differentiation and market breadth. As the handful of microserver startups are culled to 1-2 viable vendors, only the companies which deliver compelling advantages to significant markets will survive.

Highlights of the upcoming 2012 ISSCC include the first 22nm disclosures from Intel and several SoC papers from AMD, Cavium Networks and Oracle. Looking out further to the future, the clear focus is power consumption. There are several papers from Intel on low-power logic, one from IBM discussing 3D integration of embedded DRAM and a third from Fujitsu on system level power for the K supercomputer.

This article presents a preview of ISSCC 2008, including discussion of Intel’s Itanium processor, codenamed Tukwila and an ultra-low power x86 MPU codenamed Silverthorne. Other presentations include Sun’s Rock and Niagara 3 processors, the 45nm CELL processor and assorted DRAM and SRAM prsentations.

History of Niagara Two years ago at Hot Chips 16, Sun Microsystems disclosed Niagara, an innovative microprocessor and system design that represented a radical departure from traditional computer architectures. The roots of Niagara lie in Hydra, a research project under Professor Kunle Olukotun that was working on chip multiprocessing in the late 1990’s. The Hydra […]

This is the fourth article in a series that that started in 2000 with The Looming Battle in 64 bit Land, followed by The Battle in 64 bit Land Revisited in 2001, and The Battle in 64 bit Land, 2003 and beyond in 2003.

This is an update of ‘The Looming Battle in 64 bit Land’. The milestones achieved by each of the major players over the past 12 months are reviewed and the near future competitive prospects of the major 64 bit microprocessor families are examined.